Process of curing meat.



N. 657,258. Patented Sept. 4, |906.

c.. A. wAsHunN. PROCESS 0F CUBING MEAT.

(Application :filed Aug. 23, 1899.)

(Na. Modul.)

U if @Nithin @retries Grenen n. WAsncURN, or ELYRIA, omdnssreno-R TRUSTEE, or cLEvELANi-i, omo.

PRDCESS OF CUIRiNG MEAT..

sienerrr'onflvron 'formiegpert of Letters :ea/@ent No. 657,258, dated semmai# 4, roo 1 original application fiieainngusi 1s, 129e, serial Nefssaeis. Divided @dans application fue@ August' ea'l'eoa sentira (No specimens.) l f 1 h- T 'al-'Z wwit z'it moby oon-cern:

Beit known that i, GEORGE A. WASHBURN,

a citizen of the United States, residing 'et Elyria, in the countyvof `Lorain and State of Ohio, have invented a certain nevaT and useful "Improvement in Processes of Curing Meat,

fofwhch the following; is a full, clear, and

exact description, reference beingvliad tothe A, accompanying drawings.

The chief object of my invention is tocure meat or. other substances inbrine or ,some analogous euringsolution in less time than is required by the methods heretofore practieed for thepurpose.

The invention consists in the process and the combined employment of the sever-el steps thereof, as hereinafter described, and

'pointed out deiinitely in the claims.

Some apparatus is necessary for the sueeessful practico of the process, and the drawing shows in sectional side elevation an apparatus 'which may be used,

The meat or othersubstanee to be cured is submerged in the brine or other curing soluother vitreous lining.

tion in a vat A, having a cover e, which may be tightly closed. The vat should be made of or lined with some material which will not be attacked or disintegrated by the electric current. lt mag/,for example,be made of wood or of metal having a socalled porcelain or An electriccurrent is caused to iloW through the solution which covers the meat. Theeurreui may be derived from any' suitable generator, which is diagrammatically illustrated in. the drawing o at X. The cir'ciiit-uiies c' and i9 connect the generator respectively with the positive elecy trede C and the negative electrode B, which are so arranged that the current flowing between them will pass through the curing solotion from one end of the vat A to the other,

which is preferably wat-erf fTiiisr Water isicouf fined m a porous cup D, which is immersed -in the curing solution, preferablyfin suoli?" part of said solution asis contained ina sup-' plemental tank K. A disehaigelpipeG,con

taining a pressure-reducinf,r viewer/,connects theupper end' of the vat A'with the supplemental tank K.v Whenthejpump F,lto" be' presently referred to, is in operation, this pipe ssl G contains an unbroken column ofl the curi` 'ing solutionQwhich column serves as the con;

doctor for the current in passing from*- the so'- lution in the supplemental tank K to the isola-- tion in the vat. When the electric currentis flowing, electrolytio aetionitakes placeat the positive electrode C. This electrode; 'which is preferably a carbon plate, will be y"( iisinte grated more or less, and the iluidin which it is' immersed will also be decomposed more orless by the electrolytic actionjecause oi'thi's ai y last-named fact Water is' preferably iisedja's the fiuid conductor in which thelpositiveeleotrede is submerged. Thev clay porous 'cup which contains this fluid.- e'onduotoris afconvenient and efcient instrumentality for producing a very essential result iu the practice of the processnamely, it vprevents the fiiiid conductor which it contains, and particularly the products of the eleetrolytio actionV there-y iii-,from oomi-ningliug with ithe' crrring'Y soin-15" tion. This step is important for two reasonsnalnely, it proven ts the l disintegrated vparticles of the carbon from entering.;1 the 'curing` solution, and hence prevents the deposition of such. particles in anden the-moat, audit" also prevents any chlorine gas fromr getting into the curing solution, aschlorinefgas'in said solution will spoil the meat. Byosxnosis some of the brine will get intothe porous cup,

and chlorine gas will then' be produced therein; but itis produced in such small' quantities that it does not cause any appreciable inconvenience to the workman, and, as before stated, it does not get into the curing solution.L

In additionto the employment of tlieelectrie current substantially as stated the brine is caused to continuously circulate throughthe vet A and over the meat therein. This re- .current of `necessity passes sult may be produced by a pump F, which draws the brine from a suction tank M through pipe I and forces it through pipe E into and through the vat A and out of the pipe G into the supplemental tank K. An outlet-pipe G' is provided for this supplemental tank, and it discharges onto the rst of ay series of inclined plates or paus N, which are preferably perforated. The solution falls from one to the other of these pans and finally into the suction-tank M. These plates are provided for breaking the column of the curing solution between the supplemental tank and the'pump, wherefore the electric through the solution in the pipe G into the solution in the vat. The lcurrent leaving the positive electrode C flows through the duid conductor in which it is submerged, through the column of brine in the pipe G, and through the curing solution `in vat A to the electrode B.

The supplemental tank and Vthe pipe con- .necting it and the vat are preferably made of material which will not the electrolytic action. The two parts ofthe pipe G may be made of rubber hose, and the connections between it and the vat and the reducing valve g may be' made of guttapercha.

The apparatus shown in the drawing is described in detail and the novel par-tetherebe disintegrated by Y 4of are claimed in an application, Serial No.

688,943, filed August 18, 1898, of which application this application is a division. As before stated, any suitable apparatus may be used in the practice of the process.

I have foundithat the best results are obtained when the curing solution is caused to circulate through the vat under a pressure of about twenty pounds and when an electric current of from one toltwo amperes and onel hundred and ten .volts is employed. Good results, however, maybe obtained by widely varying the Huid-pressure and the voltage and am perage of the electric current,

wherefore I do n ot intend to limit the invention to the pressure or voltage or amperage named.

The process described will cure meat in a small fraction of the time commonly employed for that purpose. The electric current seems to open up the pores of the meat, and the moving brine is forced into the pores and permeates the meat. In addition to the ,from the surface,

saving of time, the process produces other good results-namely, none of the nutritious ingredients of the meat are lost, but all are retained, wherefore the meat does not lose in weight duringA the curing operation, but on the contrary slightly gains in weight, due to the injection of salt into it. Moreover, the rapidity with which the curing is effected causes the salt to be distributed evenly throughout the meat, whereas in the old process, owing to the long time the meat is kept in the brine, the meat near the surface contains more salt than does that farther wherefore it is often necessary to soak out some of the salt deposited on the meat near its surface before said meat is ready for sale or use.- Such supplemental treatment is never necessary with meat cured by the process herein described, said meat being uniformly cured and of an even color throughout.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The described process of curing meat and the like, which consists in immersing the -same in a curing solution, in passing an electric current from the positive electrode through a'fluid conductor and the curing solution, and in preventing said iluid conductor and the product of the electrolytic action therein from commin glin g with the curing solution.

2. The described process ot curing meat and the like, which consists in immersing the same in a curing solution, causing the circulation of said solution over the meat, in passing an electric current from the positive electrode through a fluid conductor and vthe circulating curing solution, and in preventing the duid conductor and the products of the felectrolytic actiontherein from commingling 'with the curing solution.

3. The described process of curing meat and the like, which consistsiu immersing the same in a curing solution, in passing an electric current from 'the positiive electrfxe through a Huid conductor, the curing solution, and a porous partition which separates said uid conductor and curing solution.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

. GEORGE A. WASHBURN.

Witnesses:

R. S. "FULTON, FRANK H. KEMPER'.

IOO 

